Adhesive tape is used in business settings and home settings for a variety of purposes. Adhesive tape is used in sealing boxes for shipping. Adhesive tape is used in masking surfaces in painting operations. Adhesive tape is temporarily or permanently used to repair items or bind items together for storage or other purposes. Adhesive tape for use in these situations is frequently comprised of a long substrate of paper, plastic or other film-like materials of generally uniform width and adhesive coated onto one or both sides of the substrate. Such lengths of tape are often rolled upon a core of paper, plastic or other suitable material. The users of such tape frequently buy them premounted on a dispenser or mount them on a dispenser for use in storing the tape, dispensing the tape and sometimes applying the tape to the intended workpiece.
It is sometimes advantageous to fold over one or both edges of a length of adhesive tape before applying it to the intended workpiece. In other situations, a folded edges of a tape provides a desired effect for an edge in a painting operation. In still other situations, a folded edge provides a grasping portion available when one intends to remove the tape from the temporary position after it has served its function. These and other advantages of folding the edge of the tape are known in the art.
Attempts have been made to provide tape dispensers which fold the edge of an adhesive tape length as it is dispensed from a roll. Some such dispensers are adapted for use with masking tape used in painting operations. Some such dispensers are complex to manufacture, have a high part count, and are expensive. Moreover, such tape dispensers are difficult to use and difficult to thread.